Plugra Alert!

I was just told by my friendly Trader Joe's checker that they are not going to be carrying the big 1-lb blocks of Plugra after next month.

At around $3/lb, Plugra (which is not, in fact made in Europe as many people believe) is my favorite butter to cook with, bake with, etc. It has a wonderfully high butterfat content, delicious flavor (of course it's not cultured butter) and...

...it's $3 for a full pound.

What am I going to do? I don't WANT to spend $6 on half as much butter at Whole Foods. Though, I have been looking for an excuse to switch to Lurpak... hmmm.

Incidentally, my guess is that TJs is going to bring in their own private lable "European-style" butter (because that's just how they do)...

Comments

[Sam]

Fred insists on the French butter for $4+ for just half a pound.
I can never remember it's name Celles something with the pic of the woman with the umbrella

Me, I really miss salty yellow english butter. Never found the likes of it in these parts.

I am not crazy about Plugra. I use it for baking sometimes and it is perfect for that, but I would never use it for plain eating.
Or else I use the Wholefoods own brand of butter for baking. Can't remember how much it costs.

EXCEPT on Saturday I was SEDUCED by homemade butter at the farmers market.
I think it was $8 per lb, not sure - I'll have to weigh it, it was a hefty lump.
It fits right in with my latest craze of buying local products.

I am planning a post on it in the next few days.
Photo is ready, already...

[Fatemeh]

Sam -

I ADORE Vermont Cultured Butter for eating on toasts... it's got a tang to it that just reminds me of the butter in Iran.

But at $3/lb, I can't live w/o Plugra in the fridge. It makes very nice beurre blanc and finishes sauces very nicely. It has that high butterfat for baking with (although, we both know how INFREQUENTLY I do that)...

Have tried the homemade butter at Jack London Sq. farmers market. Now, I really, really want goat milk butter... that may be my new quest.

[Sam]

now i think i tried the goat butter somewhere recently and it was good.
cant remember where?

i should give up butter anyway, before i turn into a dumpling!

[teri]

No more Plugra? I am a huge fan of it, too. My fridge is incomplete without that monstrous red rectangle winking at me from the butter drawer. Do you know if you can freeze butter? I would stock up on a couple of pounds if I'm going to have to start paying 2x for it.

As for goat butter, I have recently discovered it and have totally fallen for it. I got some for $6 at the Cowgirl shop in the Ferry Bldg. I think it's called Tournevent (it's Canadian, Sam, not French, but it sounds French! By the way, they sell salty Irish butter at TJ's - not sure how similar that would be to English butter, but it's really tasty). So expensive, but utterly delicious. My sales resistance is really low when cute little goats are on the packaging. Also apparently it is much better for you (well, as better for you as real butter can be). I'll be interested to know what you think of it!

[Fatemeh]

OK, field trip!

Maybe I will make the hubby pick it up for me... I miss goat butter sooo much. Sheep butter, too... all those yummy things my grandmother always got us Summers in Iran...

[Sam]

Teri
Unfortunately when i miss my salty butter, I mean it is really salty and really yellow. Compared to the English stuff, the Irish Kerrygold might as well be unsalted. I do like it though- I have to - there is little alternative.

My sister lives in Ireland, her husband is Irish. When he visits my parents - my mum has to get kerrygold in specially for him cos he can't abide the saltier English stuff.

You should check out the Wholefoods own brand of butter in a black and white carton. I thought it was a reasonable price, but maybe not compared to TJs. Maybe it's because I buy that French stuff for fred, anything seems cheap in comparison.

And as for the goodness of butter - well, remember, it's very good for the soul!

[Sam]

PS Made in France Warehouse sales (next one this weekend ) in Brisbane sells the huge Plugra too. Not sure how much they cost?

[Teri]

An update - I was at my Trader Joe's and they told me they have no plans to discontinue selling Plugra. The nice man said that different stores will often discontinue individual items if they're not selling well (mine has stopped selling the frozen porcinis, sadly), but that you can usually find them at another store. So fear not, Fatemeh, the days of $3 butter are not behind us!

Also, there's a big sign on the Plugra that says "Freeze me." So if all else fails, crowd the freezer!

[Ruth]

Yeah, you can freeze butter, although if you're picky you might want to double wrap it so it doesn't pick up any freezer smells. I have some goat butter in my fridge but I don't remember where I bought it -- Berkeley Bowl, maybe? They have an amazing selection of butters, although last time I checked they no longer had the 1 lb bricks of Vermont cultured butter for some ridiculously cheap price ($4.59, IIRC).

My favorite butter, though, is the Jana Valley butter from the Czech Repubic Whole Foods carries. It's absolutely delicious and a steal at less the $2 for eight ounces.

Is it weird to have four or five different kinds of butter in your fridge?

[swiss pastry chef of columbia]

We love plugra in ouer business,but we realy do not like when some blocks of butter only weigh 432g.when it shoud be 453g. We are paying so much for this product,that we expect to get what you promise.Please respond.Thank you.Monika and Josef Ruckstuhl

[Didier Rocherolle]

Unfortunately Jana Valley Butter is not longer from the Czech Republic. It is made in New Zealand and just not the same. Will have to find something else.

[Don]

Monika and Josef Ruckstuhl - you complained the plugra weighs less than normal butter - that is because water is heavier than fat. The extra fat actually makes the stick of the much tastier plugra weigh less because the extra fat is there in place of water.